I think with enough surface agitation and plants and/or lots of water changes it’s possible. I’ve done it with saltwater without out a problem, but it’s easier to pull off with saltwater due to live rock
Is it even possible to have a tank with no filtration?
- Thread starter FINWIN
- Start date
It is just beach sand, no soil, no peat, although I seldom vacuum (most old water is taken out from near the surface), and with the regular falling leaf litter there is a constant layer of mulm, good for the plants and invisible critters (I don't use plant ferts).
By the way during the month without a pump, I did daily testing to keep up on any water quality degradation.
I was surprised that ammonia and nitrate never spiked, but not surprised that pH did drop, I believe that pH drop was mostly due to the use rain water as water changes and to cause the sump to overflow.
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Thinking about this even further our claims of running tanks with no filtration aren't entirely true. Here's why...
Yes, mechanical filtration is missing, there's no denying that, but biological filtration, the important one, is going about its merry business whether you have a dedicated area for it or not.
My 10g that I used as an example of my success has been set up for a while. BB are all over the tank. All sides of the tank have BB on, except the front panel which is cleaned. My gravel will be full of BB though I do have to vacuum the top of it regularly because with no mech filtration all the"bits" settle on the gravel.
So from that perspective, it's not really that surprising that we're very successful at running tanks with "no filtration".
Yes, mechanical filtration is missing, there's no denying that, but biological filtration, the important one, is going about its merry business whether you have a dedicated area for it or not.
My 10g that I used as an example of my success has been set up for a while. BB are all over the tank. All sides of the tank have BB on, except the front panel which is cleaned. My gravel will be full of BB though I do have to vacuum the top of it regularly because with no mech filtration all the"bits" settle on the gravel.
So from that perspective, it's not really that surprising that we're very successful at running tanks with "no filtration".
The answer to the title question is no, 100%.
I hate to break it to you, but a filter does not do anything to remove nitrogen from a tank, What it does is to act as a hotel for the bacteria and other microorganisms that do the actual work. A filter can also create some current and surface agitation. Surface agitation is needed for gas exchange. In nature wind and rain handle this chore.
A tank with a decently planted substrate has filtration being performed. It does not have to have a filter to do this. A planted substrate is a filter. The tank still needs other things. There is no such thing as a tank lasting any amount of time without humans doing anything for it. It will last no longer than it takes the water to evaporate.
In fact, a tank with substrate and no filter or plants can still have bacteria in the substrate. All it takes is ammonia, oxygen and a few other things typically found in water and it is a filter as we in the hobby think of them. Basically, all that is needed is water movement and some surface agitation.
Aptopos of nothing. The second best filtration, after a planted substrate, is a Hamburg mattenfilter using high quality rigid foam.
I hate to break it to you, but a filter does not do anything to remove nitrogen from a tank, What it does is to act as a hotel for the bacteria and other microorganisms that do the actual work. A filter can also create some current and surface agitation. Surface agitation is needed for gas exchange. In nature wind and rain handle this chore.
A tank with a decently planted substrate has filtration being performed. It does not have to have a filter to do this. A planted substrate is a filter. The tank still needs other things. There is no such thing as a tank lasting any amount of time without humans doing anything for it. It will last no longer than it takes the water to evaporate.
In fact, a tank with substrate and no filter or plants can still have bacteria in the substrate. All it takes is ammonia, oxygen and a few other things typically found in water and it is a filter as we in the hobby think of them. Basically, all that is needed is water movement and some surface agitation.
Aptopos of nothing. The second best filtration, after a planted substrate, is a Hamburg mattenfilter using high quality rigid foam.
I'm confused. You state "100%" that "no" you can't run a tank with no filter. I read that as, if you want to run a tank properly you need a filter? But in your post #7 you state "if you change a lot of water, no filter is needed".
As I mentioned in my post #14 you can have a tank with no filter but that doesn't mean biological filtration isn't going on. That's the sole reason why my 10g tank is doing OK with "no filter".
However, if I didn't have gravel and a few small val in that tank, and I cleaned each inside glass surface regularly that would be a different outcome altogether. In that scenario little or no bio filtration would be going on simply because there'd be nowhere for the BB to colonate, and then, like you alluded to, i'd have to do very regular water changes to compensate.
We may be getting into semantics here, so it might be good to clarify the question.
FINWIN do you mean, run a tank without a designated filter? Or??????
And by this I mean anything added or designated to induce filtration, anything from under gravel filtration, HOB, internal box filtration, canister, sump, protein skimming, fluidized bed or ???? etc etc etc
Or without any artificial means of filtration? Some filtration is going to occur whether planned or not.
As some stated, biological filtration is always occurring in any cycled tank whether or not there is a designated filter attached.
And water movement is actually not the same as filtration, although water movement does enhance naturally occurring filtration in a tank.
So as you can see, there are differing concepts as to what is meant by, or considered filtration, by different people.
I took your question to be,, without some type of designated contraction that acts as a filter.
But maybe I didn't get the drift?
FINWIN do you mean, run a tank without a designated filter? Or??????
And by this I mean anything added or designated to induce filtration, anything from under gravel filtration, HOB, internal box filtration, canister, sump, protein skimming, fluidized bed or ???? etc etc etc
Or without any artificial means of filtration? Some filtration is going to occur whether planned or not.
As some stated, biological filtration is always occurring in any cycled tank whether or not there is a designated filter attached.
And water movement is actually not the same as filtration, although water movement does enhance naturally occurring filtration in a tank.
So as you can see, there are differing concepts as to what is meant by, or considered filtration, by different people.
I took your question to be,, without some type of designated contraction that acts as a filter.
But maybe I didn't get the drift?
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As I understand FINWIN, an internal or external man made device used to pass water through it with the intent to remove "items in the water column", filters including but not limited UGF, internal box filters, HOBs, canisters, sumps, prefilter on a water pump, etc. The whole aquarium wasn't considered a filter, therefore, there is no biological filtration, just the nitrogen process as it naturally occurs on surfaces.
ive got a 20 g thats just got a water pump with a spray bar. keeping water well oxygenated is typically my main goal in setting up an aquarium
as long as theres sufficient oxygen, plants and surfaces can do most of the bio work with water changes.
as long as theres sufficient oxygen, plants and surfaces can do most of the bio work with water changes.
I currently have a couple tanks without filtration, they just have power heads, one has plants the does not and both seem to be doing fine.
